The resounding victory of Japan’s ruling coalition in Sunday’s election shows how well the coalition’s leader, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, has learned an important lesson: When it comes to wooing voters, it’s the economy all the way.

Exit polls show that Mr. Abe’s economic policies, dubbed Abenomics, were much more important in swaying voters than a whole host of other issues, from nuclear to foreign policy. Read More »

A day after Japan’s ruling coalition scored a decisive victory in Sunday’s upper house election, business leaders voiced their hopes that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party would now have the mandate to go ahead with his planned economic reforms, making note of what they’d most like to see his administration accomplish. Read More »

Japanese politicians across the political spectrum jumped at the opportunity to use the Internet in campaigning for Sunday’s election, the first to be held after the lifting of a ban on using the Web in the run-up to a national vote.

But while a media survey shows that the vast majority of candidates used the Net as a campaigning tool to garner votes from younger and tech-savvy voters, another poll indicates there is still a long way to go before all voters embrace the Internet as a primary source of information for deciding who they will support. Read More »

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party won a sweeping upper-house election Sunday, while the largest opposition Democratic Party of Japan suffered a devastating defeat, losing more than half of its seats.Click headline to view the full slideshow. Read More »

The Japan Restoration Party officially has a colorful new lawmaker in Antonio Inoki. On Sunday, the feisty former professional wrestler, frequent traveler to North Korea, and one-time hostage negotiator, won a seat in the upper house.

The 70-year-old’s election victory appears to be one of the few bright spots in what has otherwise been a disappointing outcome for the JRP. Early exit polls indicated only seven to eight JRP-backed candidates are projected to win seats. The party had wanted 10. Read More »

If the ruling Liberal Democratic Party-New Komeito coalition was the big winner in Sunday’s elections, the little winner was the coalition’s most dogged critic, the 91-year-old Japanese Communist Party.

Early exit polls showed the JCP winning around eight seats of the 121 up for election in the upper house. If that number materializes, it would be their biggest upper house win since 1998, when the party took 15 seats. Read More »

With the preliminary exit polls out now for Japan’s upper house election, all the major media are predicting a majority of available seats–likely 75-plus out of 121–for the ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, as expected. Both the coalition members, Mr. Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party, and the smaller New Komeito, are seen performing in line with forecasts.

But among the parties whose fates were less certain, it’s clear even at this preliminary stage that there are winners and losers.

Let’s be frank: Sunday’s upper house election doesn’t feel the same as the election for its sister chamber—the lower house—did back in December. That time voters decided to return the long-dominant Liberal Democratic Party to power after a three-year stint in the opposition, and banishing the Democratic Party of Japan back into the minority.

This time, while it isn’t technically a re-election campaign, it has the feeling of one. There’s enthusiasm (especially among the heavily favored ruling LDP), but not excitement. As of 4 p.m. voter turnout was 27.21%, down about 6.64 percentage points compared to the previous upper house election in 2010.

But while the outcome of this election won’t be as dramatic as the last time (i.e. there won’t be a new prime minister at the end of the day), Sunday’s vote carries its own significance. Click through for a cheat sheet of why today’s election matters. Read More »

“Is there anyone in this crowd that has already decided to vote for our candidate?,” Banri Kaieda, leader of the main opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan, asked for a show of hands from his audience at a rally in Saitama prefecture. Standing beside him, another party lawmaker clapped enthusiastically for the three or four who put their hands up.

The rally, such as it was, took place on Wednesday evening under a roofed section of Ageo station as Mr. Kaieda’s booming voice competed with the pouring rain. “It’s still not enough!” Mr. Kaieda said, almost certainly telling the truth. “I’m sure there are still people who are undecided!” Read More »

Attempts over the last decade to emphasize the importance of clear policy platforms in Japanese elections seem to have come full circle.

Baffled voters in the current campaign are facing a bewildering array of candidates and a muddle of issues in Sunday’s upper house poll. With newspapers and Internet sites vying to give voters clearer ideas on which candidates to vote for, an independent political think tank has judged the election manifestos of Japan’s main parties to be the worst in years. Read More »

About Japan Real Time

Japan Real Time is a newsy, concise guide to what works, what doesn’t and why in the one-time poster child for Asian development, as it struggles to keep pace with faster-growing neighbors while competing with Europe for Michelin-rated restaurants. Drawing on the expertise of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires, the site provides an inside track on business, politics and lifestyle in Japan as it comes to terms with being overtaken by China as the world’s second-biggest economy. You can contact the editors at japanrealtime@wsj.com